Use the Web Search tool

Web Search is a tool you can use to broaden Alfa’s knowledge on a particular topic by referencing supplementary material through the web. You can think of it as Alfa performing an online search on your behalf.

Types of information accessed exclusively through Web Search include:

• Information on international or private companies
• General topics not covered by the news
• Information found only on specific websites

Enable or disable Web Search

By default, we enable Web Search for all Alfa users. However, you can enable/disable this tool at any time.

To enable or disable Web Search on your account

1. Click Account then Settings at the bottom left of your screen
2. Under the Profile tab, toggle on/off Include web search results

Use the Web Search tool

There are four methods of using Web Search:

• By topic
  You ask a general question about a topic that could be solved by searching the web.
  Example: What is the situation with the mining industry in North America?
  
  

• By security
  You ask a question for news or other information about a particular security or group of securities.
  Example: How has the recent election affected stocks within the NASDAQ 100?
  
  

• By URL
  You ask a question and include a URL that you specifically want Alfa to reference when solving your query.
  Example: What is happening right now with nuclear energy? Reference these sources to generate your results: www.world-nuclear.org, www.iaea.org
  
  

• By domain
  You ask a question and include a specific website/domain URL that you want Alfa to reference when solving your query.
  Example: Monitor the domain https://www.constructiondive.com/ for news and summarize the latest updates.

While all methods of using the tool will give you success, we suggest using the By URL or By domain method whenever possible to get the best results. By stating the exact web page you want Alfa to pull information from, you’ll ensure that other less trustworthy or contradictory web results don’t mislead Alfa.

Limitations of the Web Search tool as of February 19, 2025

We’re constantly building out new capabilities for the Web Search tool. However, these are the tool’s current limitations:

• Files
  You can download files on a specified website. However, if files are encrypted, we’re not able to decrypt them at this time. Additionally, files with really short and uninformative names are less likely to be detected and downloaded.
  
  
• Links to other web pages
  The Web Search tool can reference an additional 3-5 most relevant links within a web page that link to another web page.
  
  
• Infinite scrolling
  If a website has an infinite scrolling feature where additional content loads as you scroll down the page, Web Search cannot view information beyond what is initially visible.
  
  
• Next page
  Alfa cannot currently go from page 1 to page 2 when looking at information on a website.
  
  
• Websites that require logins
  Alfa is unable to access information from websites that require logins (such as LinkedIn).
  
  
• Image interpretation
  Alfa cannot interpret information within an image using the Web Search tool.
  
  
• Interacting with elements on a page
  Alfa will not be able to retrieve information that requires pushing a button or interacting with an element on the page.
  
  
• Videos
  Alfa is not able to process and analyze information in a video. However, if the video has a transcript, Alfa can process information from this text.